‘Stressed’ dog in plane’s cargo hold loses teeth after chewing on cage

Staff at a major airport were shocked when they discovered that a dog had made a huge hole in its crate during a flight.

The pup was flying in the hold from Turkey to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and damage to the crate was discovered when handlers were unloading the plane, as shown in a viral video shared by Dutch dog trainer Bob Doornheim on Instagram, which has been viewed more than 487,000 times. .

The video shows the dog’s head peeking through the hole in the crate after the flight, followed by some time on the tarmac being petted and calmed by handlers.

“The owner was emotional and shocked, but also very grateful for our help in making sure her dog was safe,” Doornheim said. News week. “Given our experience with dogs, we know what to do in these situations to minimize the animal’s stress. When we arrived, we instructed the airline driver to remove the dog from the carrier as quickly as possible.”

“We moved the dog to a shady area, put him on a temporary collar to keep him from running onto the track, and my colleague brought water to help calm the dog,” he continued. “During our efforts to relax the animal, we noticed that it had lost some teeth and appeared older.

“We quickly contacted the owner and asked our colleagues at Koninklijke Marechaussee to bring them together. It is crucial that dogs exhibiting this behavior are promptly reunited with their owners, as they often experience significant stress, which can be fatal.”

Before returning to its owner, the dog calmed down in the company of the handlers, Doornheim said.

“We often see these situations with plastic dog carriers,” he explained. “When a dog becomes stressed and tries to escape, some dogs make so much effort to get out that they start chewing and digging whenever possible. Just because a dog is used to a carrier doesn’t guarantee he’ll be okay on a plane.

“An aircraft is a completely different environment, with many new sounds, smells and movements during takeoff, turbulence and landing. Given our experience with these situations, we have found that plastic dog carriers are less suitable. Therefore, we recommend using of a metal dog carrier. This is more robust and escape-proof.”

Air travel with dogs is a popular choice for many pet owners. A report from the American Pet Products Association showed that 68% of Americans who traveled with their dogs went by plane.

The American Kennel Club advises that dog owners provide their pets with “puzzle” type toys for airplane travel to reduce boredom. They should also bring enough food and bottled water.

The comments on the video shared by Doornheim were full of people sharing their thoughts. Translated into English, many expressed concern for the animal.

“Poor thing,” wrote @blanmica while @ons_stulpje said: “People just don’t fly with dogs.”

“We never fly with our dog, never alone in a crate,” said @konraddoepfner.

@andreasdji commented: “I’d rather drive 20 hours.”

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